Those who happened to be present at the recently concluded national conference of vice-chancellors must have had a mixed feeling of hope and despair. The two-day conference at New Delhi was aimed at finding a way out of the mess we now call higher education.
The deliberations were directed towards finding some solution for the multifarious problems of quality and quantity, expansion and excellence as the conference termed it. But what intrigued the academia was the Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh’s description of higher education as the “sick child” of our educational system.
The minister went on to emphasise that the need of the hour was to increase the access to higher education because it is not yet fully or satisfactorily fulfiling the aspirations of the youth. In admissions, there is a big divide between the rich and the poor. Vicariously he laid the blame on the vice-chancellors who failed to define the content, extent and methodology of their delivery system.
Among others, who shed copious tears over the “sick child” were a Planning Commission member and some vice-chancellors. According to one, “only 10 per cent of our graduates are employable. What we need most urgently is higher fund allocations. In the Eleventh Plan, the present six per cent of the GDP must be increased to 19 per cent”.
The suggestion seemed to be quite confusing because it did not go well with Arjun Singh’s assurance that the resources were not wanting. Again, when an enhancement in fee structure was suggested it got complicated further.
As one listened to the learned speakers, two things were clear. First, though higher education is a “sick child” according to the minister’s own confession, he has no intention to remedy it, nor did he have any sincere intention to spend money on remedial measures. Secondly, the conference was only a game for the gallery to consume and be happy about.
The fact is the universities need much more for expansion and intensification than the government can fork out. The Benaras Hindu University has already submitted a Rs 3,100 crore proposal to the HRD ministry to make the varsity a global educational centre. If it is accepted it will be a proof of the Centre’s willingness to stop the “sick child” from breathing its last.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed hope for doubling the size of higher education by adding to the already existing list of central universities by about a hundred. There will also be a thousand more colleges of science and humanities across the country. What irks the most is the mushrooming of foreign institutions and a maddening craze for foreign degrees being distributed in our own land. Adding to the confusion are varsities being opened by private individuals, out to make a fast buck. The only way to deal with the sickness is to put restraint on FDI in the educational sector.
The ills of higher education can be remedied by right steps in the right direction. Let there be hundreds and hundreds of more colleges to meet the demands of a rising population. At the same time, clear the already existing ones off the “junk food”. Raise the fee structure as the vice-chancellors have recommended. Set up a Higher Education Loan Guarantee Corporation. But one should never forget that no amount of monetary motivation can make the poor and backward classes come to the colleges. It is the mindset which has to be changed.
The sickness syndrome has to be fought on various other fronts as well. For example, we have to make our universities and colleges globally important and attractive. They need to be renovated and beautified to be glamourous enough for our own students, not to talk of the foreign ones. If even the NAAC accredited ones are unable to attract attention, then who is to blame?
